JID x EarthGang

Watch & Listen

JID

Born and raised in East Atlanta, J.I.D -- a name adopted and adapted from what his grandmother called him as a jittery child -- first appeared on the Atlanta hip-hop scene with his debut EP, Dicaprio, in 2015. Growing up, J.I.D's first connection with music was through his parents' collection of classic funk and soul LPs. After a stint at Hampton University playing football, J.I.D also hooked up with fellow MCs as part of the Spillage Village collective. By 2012, he had dropped out of college to focus on music, and in 2014 he headed out on what would be a productive tour with EarthGang, Bas, and Ab-Soul. Touring allowed J.I.D to craft his skills, and a year later he recorded and dropped the Dicaprio EP, which saw him team up with a host of producers, as well as EarthGang. While keen to distance himself from the generic abrasive trap sound that had dominated the Atlanta scene, J.I.D wanted to deliver something that was more than just about a beat, and instead focused his time and effort on lyrics as well. In 2016, J.I.D, alongside the rest of the Spillage Village crew, released the album Bears Like This Too Much, which saw the rapper honing his unique delivery and inspired lyrics. In 2017, he announced that he had signed to J. Cole's Dreamville label (a connection made with the rapper via J.I.D's part in the 2014 tour with Bas and Cole's friend and producer Cedric Brown), which released the single Never and full-length The Never Story at the beginning of the year.

EarthGang

Hip-hop duo Johnny "Olu O. Fann" Venus and Doctur "Eian Undrai Parker" Dot formed in 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia, and became known as EarthGang. They grew up on the city's Southside, an area also home to Outkast and Future. After meeting in high school, they continued to make music together, influenced by a diverse range of artists like Curtis Mayfield, T-Pain, Lauryn Hill, and Gil Scott-Heron. They began working on their first EP while at Hampton University in Virginia, and The Better Party was released in 2010. The following year they self-released two full-length albums, Mad Men and Good News. EarthGang began to tour, and in early 2013 they performed at the A3C Festival in Atlanta. Later that same year they made their Spillage Village label debut with Shallow Graves for Toys, and the record reached number 11 on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart. The duo continued to raise their profile touring North America, including sets at SXSW. 2015 saw the release of Strays with Rabies, which included guest spots from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Leagueand DJ Khalil. Although naturally suspicious of record labels, and still harboring a D.I.Y. mentality, Earthgang signed to J.Cole's Dreamville Records for their following album. They were convinced after meeting Cole that with his and his label's help, they would more opportunities. Before releasing Mirror Land in 2017, they put out the EP Rags.